Eric Canori, 32, formerly of Wilton, faces up to 40 years in jail and a fine of up to $2 million at his sentencing set for Sept. 28.

Canori was arrested in June 2009 and later indicted on marijuana trafficking charges along with Melissa "Missy" Giove, a one-time champion mountain biker, and Robert Reinfurt of Utah. Giove and Reinfurt both pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

Canori had been free on bond awaiting trial when he was arrested in March by federal agents and State Police. A criminal complaint filed by a DEA agent said Canori had turned up March 14 at a Ballston Spa residence to retrieve a duffel bag containing about $400,000 in cash.

Prosecutors alleged the money was proceeds of Canori's drug trafficking. They said he was using the money to pay his attorney's fees and had laundered some of the money through the business of an acquaintance in Clifton Park.

DEA agents searched Canori's home in Wilton two years ago after watching Canori and Giove begin unloading items from a box trailer that police said once contained about 288 pounds of marijuana. The drugs from the trailer were already confiscated by State Police in Illinois during a traffic stop. DEA agents followed the empty trailer to Wilton after enlisting the female courier as a cooperating witness.

Canori and Giove fled his residence when they discovered the drugs were gone, police said. DEA agents were watching and the pair were arrested a short time later. Inside Canori's residence that day agents said they found 40 pounds of marijuana stuffed in a freezer, a money counter, plastic bags, a heat sealer and $1.47 million in cash hidden in a duffel bag and shoe boxes.

The following day, on June 19, 2009, DEA agents raided an apartment used by Canori in Ross, Calif., near San Francisco, where they said they recovered another $600,000 in cash and marijuana packaging materials.

Giove was paid $30,000 plus travel expenses to coordinate the smuggling of the drugs across the country, according to court records. The female courier who was stopped in Illinois received about $3,000, according to court records. Some of the marijuana was to be distributed in upstate New York and also in the Norfolk, Va., area, where Giove lives.